I had to work the majority of the time we were there, but I managed to catch some time to spend with everyone. Dale and I took Thursday afternoon and played 18 holes of golf at Everygreen, CO. They have a public course there that’s really nice. It’s in the Rockies, of course, so there’s a lot of ups and downs and strangely configured holes. Hole #3 even has a huge boulder between you and the green so you just have to hit it over and pray you land somewhere near the hole. We gave up keeping score somewhere around hole #10, but we had a great time.

On Friday, Dale and I set out for Buena Vista, Colorado to go white water rafting on the Arkansas river. Dale booked a trip with an outfitter called River Runners that operates there. We signed up to raft a section of the Arkansas River called The Numbers. I have been rafting on the Spring River in Arkansas with friends, but that was nothing compared to this trip. I knew from the moment the raft hit the water that I was in for a tough ride. We had 3 other people in the raft with us – a couple and their 17 year old daughter. Dale and I sat in the middle of the raft, and our guide manned the back so he could shout instructions and steer. We went through seven rapids in all – four of which were Class 4. Basically, that means serious business and trying not to fall out of the raft. I’ll spare you the gory details, but the trip down was a lot of fun and was very challenging. At one point, I was underneath a rapid looking up at Dale and the 17 year old grabbing my life jacket to haul me back into the raft. Fun stuff.

On Saturday, we decided to drive up to Jefferson County Lake in the Rocky Mountains and have a picnic and do some fishing. Jackie was itching to drive into the mountains and see the sights so we packed up a cooler and set off. The sky was a bit overcast, but that was welcome since it had been abnormally hot in CO while we were there. Once we arrived at the lake, it actually started raining. We had to wait it out in the car for about half an hour. We started trout fishing and were wishing we’d brought more clothes. The wind whipping through the mountains made the temperature drop into the sixties. Jackie spent her time wrapped in a blanket by the edge of the water watching us fish. The girls had a good time wandering around and playing in the rocks. Dale and I must have tried everything in his tackle box but did not catch one fish. I guess it just wasn’t our day, but it was still nice to be out in such a beautiful area.

On the way back home we stopped at a place to eat that was shaped like a giant hot dog called Coney Island. Other than the fact that we somehow had to wait 40 minutes for 2 hot dogs and some onion rings, the place was pretty cool. You can see it in the photos we took on the trip.

The next few days we spent relaxing, doing a bit of shopping, hanging out with the family – stuff like that. I flew home Wednesday morning but Jackie stayed for another 3 days to get in some extra quality time with her aunt and cousins. That’s the last long trip we’ll take this year (most likely) since Addison will be here in a couple of months. Be sure to check out the photos from the trip.